Used textbooks and crumpled papers littered the mahogany desk, where Sarah sat scribbling frantically on what would now be the third page of her history essay. These days she rarely found time to do schoolwork, with all the chaos that went on in her life it was hard to set aside an hour or two to so much as a page of algebra. Her grades had been on the borders of failing and passing for months now, and even though Erica constantly reminded her that it didn't matter - because according to her vampires didn't need to worry about mundane things like high school - she refused to just give up on her life because of some curse.

Ever since the Lucifractor Incident three days ago - where the name came from she had no idea - it had been surprisingly tranquil. No supernatural afflictions threatened their lives, and for the most part everything had returned to normal. Well, as normal as you can get in a town like Whitechapel. The news had made up some weird story to explain the incident, claiming it was some sort of small earthquake, and the citizens of Whitechapel remained completely ignorant of the creatures that lurked in the shadows of their town. The only difference between their life before and their life now was: Ethan wasn't there to see it.

I mean, it made sense, when you die and come back to life you're going to be a bit exhausted. But it had been three days and Ethan hadn't so much as moved a finger. After Benny had completed the spell, they had sat there waiting for hours hoping that he would wake up. Finally they ended up bringing him back to Benny's grandmother's house, who was away at some sort of arts and crafts fair. Despite herself she couldn't stop worrying that the spell had failed, and any moment she would get a phone call that Ethan was dead.

As if it were reading her mind, the silver cellphone sitting on a pile of math papers began to buzz sporadically. A lump formed in her throat as she grasped the miniature computer and read the screen, her stomach doing flips as she read Benny's name. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the "talk" button and held the phone up to her ear, preparing for the worst. "Sarah! Thank god, I was worried you wouldn't pick up!" Benny's voice ripped through the speakers and pounded against her ears, causing her too move the cell away from her head.

"What happened?" she final managed to ask, crossing her fingers that it wasn't the same as her paranoia.

"Ethan woke up!" hope exploded in her chest as she heard those words, all anxiety dissipating as she processed what he'd just said.

"Seriously! Is he okay?" she had already begun to get out of her chair, no longer able to remain sitting. Concern mixed with joy as emotions tumbled around sending her nerves in a frenzy.

"Well..." he trailed off, as if trying to make the situation even more dramatic.

"Well?" Sarah's shoulder's tensed.

"I think he got, like, death tattoos or something." Benny awkwardly announced, knowing that what he was saying made absolutely no sense.

"Death tattoos?" she inquired, at this point in time she was kind of used to Benny not making any sense. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"When he woke up he had these... marks on his arms. But, listen..."

"What do you mean by marks?" she asked again, questioning herself on why she wasn't just hanging up and driving over there right now.

"They're like, black... swirls. But there's something else!" Benny anxiously changed the subject.

"What else is wrong?" she questioned irritatingly.

"I think he remembers."

"Remembers? You mean dying?" her voice had become less annoyed and more concerned.

"No." he paused and she could hear him take in a deep breath. When he spoke again his voice was a low whisper. "Being dead."

Sarah wasn't exactly sure what she expected Ethan to look like, after all he had been completely unresponsive for over three days. Bringing her knuckles down on the wooden front door, she impatiently waited for a response. If it weren't for her 'curse' she would've simply barged through the front doors, but unfortunately as a vampire she had to gain permission before entering a house, something she would never understand. The sound of broken scuffling followed by a loud thump and a series of muttered curse words - she assumed Benny had tripped on something - emanated from the other side of the wood before it creaked open, revealing a happy but oddly uneasy brunette boy. His hair was slightly messy since she had last seen him the other day, dark circles lay under his dark green eyes, but his expression revealed his triumph at the return of his best friend.

"What brings you here on this fine day, my fanged friend?" Benny was smiling from ear to ear, and Sarah resisted the urge slap him for his idiotic comment.

"Let me in." she sighed, not even bothering to hide her vexation.

"Fine. Since you asked so nicely." he swung the door open for her, and waltzed away towards the dining room where they usually met. It was situated right next to the kitchen so Benny had easy access to any snacks they may need. Relief flooded her system as she observed the person sitting at the end of the table, stirring around a bowl of tomato soup with a bored expression. When she stepped into the doorway his dark brown eyes flicked up to meet hers, and a smile broke out on each of their faces, Sarah's wider than his. Ethan immediately stopped playing with the silverware and Sarah began to take note of his current condition.

He looked relatively healthy and vital, oddly enough, although his skin was eerily pale and he had lost some weight while he'd been... asleep. Currently he was wearing a blue t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans, the same outfit he'd been wearing on the day of the incident, along with a black, thin hoodie. However, there was a sort of... unnatural gleam in his eyes, as if a part of him was still clinging on to death. She tried to suppress a shiver and moved to seat herself across the table from him. Benny had already taken up residence in a chair halfway across the table, the only sound echoing in the house now was the steady tapping of his sneakers on the polished wood flooring. An awkward silence settled over the three of them as they observed one another in quiet uncertainty.

"So..." Benny shattered the hushed tranquility in an uncomfortable fashion, shifting in his chair. "Um, how was death?"

"Benny!" Sarah glared at Benny, shocked at his blunt and thoughtless outburst. Ethan remained silent, his eyes dazed for a moment as if remembering some event, before snapping back to reality. Sarah searched for a way to change the subject, and came across the fact that Ethan hadn't eaten any of the soup sitting in front of him. The last time he'd eaten had been just before they'd confronted Stern, over 72 hours ago. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really." Ethan murmured quietly, his eyes still downcast and gloomy. Concern bubbled inside of Sarah, accompanied by hoards of worry and anxiety. Something was wrong.

"Hey, wait, show her the tattoos!" Benny leaned forward on the table eagerly, seemingly oblivious to his friends peculiar behavior. Sarah raised her eyebrows at his comment, and Ethan gave out a long sigh.

"I don't think they're tattoos, Benny." he spoke slowly as his fingers pulled back cuffs of his hoodie, unearthing his ghostly white arms and the odd black shapes that decorated them. Sarah's eyes widened slightly - admittedly she hadn't really thought Benny was serious about his arms being covered in markings - and a series of questions began to brew in her mind. Benny was already one step ahead.

"Then what are they?" he crossed his arms across his chest, more in puzzlement than frustration. She was pretty sure he couldn't be angry right now even if he tried. He just got his best friend back, after all.

"I think they're... burns." Ethan choked on his words as he gaped at the thick black swirls, which now that he mentioned it sort of resembled the flames of a fire. Another chill threatened to sweep down her spine as she noted the hidden terror that seemed to conceal itself in his gaze, and the same sort of vacant look seemed to take hold of him for a few seconds, a look of remembrance, followed by another wave of masked horror. Benny still seemed completely ignorant of this, but Sarah couldn't help but wonder what exactly that spell had done to Ethan, aside from giving him a second chance at life.

"How would you get burns? You were lying in a bed for three days. Plus, I'm positive those weren't there a couple hours ago." he pushed the soup closer to Ethan in a gesture that he needed to eat it, but Ethan just pulled down his sleeve and pretended not to notice.

"When I was... asleep, I remember being on fire. It was... I felt like it was going into me." he noticed their perplexed expressions and attempted to cover it up, "B-but it was probably just a dream!" his arms were shaking slightly, and considering he was wearing a hoodie in room temperature she could only assume it wasn't caused by being cold. Every muscle and nerve in his body was tense, betraying the fact that he wasn't telling the whole story. However, Sarah wasn't sure if it was something he wanted to repeat. She couldn't shake the feeling that they had done something awful, even though they had managed to bring him back. A chilling thought erupted in her brain, but she quickly dismissed it.

A soft vibration accompanied by a ringtone of one of her favorite songs seeped through the leather material of her bag and alerted her that she was once again receiving a phone call. It was then that she realized she had forgotten to inform her parents of where she headed, no doubt they were worried.

Sometimes she wished she could just tell them everything, all of the things she had gone through and what she had become, but whenever she tried to form the words her tongue turned to putty and her thoughts were washed away. It was mainly the irrational fear that, if she were to tell them, they would no longer love her. It was an almost childish fret to have, but it was one that refused to part ways. Until it did she just wasn't sure she could take that step.

Just as she began to reach her hand for the opening of her leather backpack, she noticed something odd in the corner of her eye. Ethan's hands were shakily held over his ears, as if blocking out a loud and disturbing noise. The thing that bothered her was, besides the ring of her cellphone, the house was almost totally silent, save the occasional creak or groan of a settling house. But her phone was on the lowest possible volume. This time around Benny did notice his odd behavior, and the two exchanged perturbed glances.

"Um, is that like, loud to you or something?" Benny spoke gingerly, his voice tender like when one were speaking to a scared, small child. At this remark a sort of recognition seemed to flash in Ethan's eyes, before he tenderly removed his hands and stuffed them into the silky pockets of his dark hoodie. Every time the phone vibrated he flinched slightly - to him it was not a gentle buzz but rather what seemed a thunderous boom - and it took Sarah a few moments to continue the action of removing her buzzing, metallic cellphone. A quick flash of the screen revealed that the caller was, in fact, her mother.

"Are you going to answer it?" Ethan stammered in an almost rude tone, obviously uncomfortable. Sarah gave him another worried glance before pressing the 'cancel' button and nestling the mini computer back in its leather hovel. All the while keeping an eye on Ethan, who's shoulders had begun to relax, his eyes darting around nervously as he tried to avoid eye contact.

"Well that was... weird." Benny seemed to be the only person daring enough to speak what was on all of their minds. Ethan remained quite, now shakily staring at his hands like the most fascinating thing in the world. Again, Sarah was struck with the feeling that his actions were not right, even for his condition. Then there was the fire he had described earlier. The way he had described the flames and the horror with which he spoke his words made Sarah worry that he had gone through something awful during his comatose state. Even more terrifying was the fact that strange markings had just suddenly materialized on his skin, which had grown exceedingly pale over the past few days.

"How about we watch a movie? I have to call my mom really quick and tell her I wasn't kidnapped," she quipped and paused shortly for a response, but neither of the two boys so much as snickered, "but then we should be able to do something. I still haven't gotten any news from Erica and Rory."

"Wait, what happened to Erica and Rory?" Ethan's curiosity was beginning to return to his tone as he questioned about the two reckless vampires.

"We're not sure. After the whole incident with Stern and the Lucifractor, all of the vampires in Whitechapel seemed to have disappeared. Even the council, which I'm kind of glad about. I think they ran away after finding out about what the Lucifractor could do. I'm waiting on a text or something from Erica, but so far no luck." sighing, she pushed back the chair and got onto her feet, brushing off stray crumbs that had fallen onto her lap from the messy table. "I'll be right back, you guys can find a movie and stuff."

As she exited the room she heard Benny push up his chair and head towards the kitchen for "corn popping time", which gained a slight chuckle from Ethan. A trickle of hope streamed into her mind and once again attempted to assure her that everything would be okay. Of course Ethan was tense, he had just died. She shouldn't be so quick to judge him.

It had taken a bit of convincing on her part before her mother finally allowed her stay, much to Sarah's relief. Usually she at least had the mind to notify her mom before she left the house. she had just been so caught up with everything she had forgotten. With a quick exchange of loving farewells, she was able to hang up and place her cell back inside the pocket of her bag.

Upon reentering the living room she found Ethan and Benny already situated on the couch, a large bowl of greasy popcorn perched on the stained wooden coffee table. It was a bit odd, to say the least. They were great friends, definitely, but the normally the three didn't just hang out alone. Usually Rory or Erica were there, or at least Ethan's little sister Jane. Today, however, definitely seemed like an exception. Besides, she had been meaning to watch that one new horror movie and now seemed as good as time as ever.

Ethan was flicking through channels with the gray remote clasped in his hands. Thankfully his skin seemed to have gained some of its original color, and his hands were definitely shaking less than before. Maybe she had been overreacting.

"So did you guys pick a movie, or can I make a suggestion?" The two boy's eyes flicked over towards her almost unanimously.

Benny's grinned as he popped another piece of buttered popcorn into his mouth, a large dent already starting to form in the mound. "Actually, I have no idea. Just please don't say Dusk."

"As if. I was thinking that new horror movie that came out." Sarah sat herself down in a comfy blue armchair facing from the left of the television.

"Sounds good to me." Benny turned to look at his friend. "Ethan?"

"Sure."

Ethan tried not to dwell on the fact that, despite her being outside on the porch with the door closed tight, he could hear every word exchanged between Sarah and her mother on her cellphone.

He tried to ignore the fact that he hadn't eaten in days, but he just couldn't bring himself to choke down a single spoonful of soup.

Most importantly, he tried to distract himself from the agonizing headache that was beginning to develop beneath his skull, ripping away at his brain and sending wave after wave of sharp knives digging into his mind and lighting his nerves on fire.

But he was failing.

And no matter how hard he attempted to focus on the cheesy horror movie on the T.V. in front of him, the screen seemed just a little too bright, and the colors a mite too vivid. It didn't help that Benny had the speakers turned up near max volume, but Ethan couldn't bring himself to ask him to turn it down. Not after the incident with Sarah's phone.

No, he tried to tell himself, you're just confused from being out of it for so long. All you need is a good night's sleep and you'll be back to your old self. Nothing is wrong. Nothing is wrong. Nothing is-

"Ethan?" Sarah's solicitous voice broke through his thoughts. "Is something wrong?"

It occurred to him that he must have been zoning out again. He really needed to stop doing that. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache."

"Oh, you want me to get some Advil or something?" she asked.

"No, it's fine." At this point another question worked its way into his mind. "Hey, where do my parents think I am? They're probably worried sick."

"Already ten steps ahead of you my friend, they think we are having a sleepover." Benny's attention slipped away from the television, where a girl was checking the hallway for 'strange noises'. Honestly, Ethan was pretty sure he didn't even need to watch the move to know what was going to happen.

"For three days?" Ethan's voice cracked.

The corner of Benny's mouth twitched into an nervous grin. "Yeah, well... I might have added a little magic in there too. Don't worry about it."

"I am definitely worrying about it. They better not be turning into cats when I get home." Ethan gave a small smile, and Benny seemed to buy it. What he didn't know was that with every word Ethan spoke, the headache was increasing in tenfold. He needed to sleep.

"You guys are hilarious." Sarah said exasperatingly, although she was obviously just as happy for the sense of normalcy that had started to return to their little group after being quiet for so long.

"Oh, crap! I'm out of popcorn." Benny moaned, his hands grasping at an empty bowl.

Ethan jumped to his feet, eager for some sort of distraction. "I'll get it."

"Make sure to-" Benny started to speak but stopped as soon as he noticed the pained expression that had been to work it's way across Ethan's face, his pupils blown up to the size of balloons. "E?"

"I-" As soon as he opened his mouth he regretted it; a new swarm of pain hacking away at the strings of his mind, causing him to double over in pain. Benny dropped the plastic bowl and rushed to his friends side, his hands grabbing his shoulders to keep him from toppling to the floor. It was possible the brunette started yelling something at Sarah, but a sharp, low buzzing had begun to fill his ears and drown out all other sounds like a hoard of a million deadly wasps. Another crisp, tormentous flower of agony bloomed behind his forehead, causing him to cry out helplessly.

Desperately he tried to defend himself against the shadows that had begun to form beneath his eyelids, fire dancing through his veins to the awful buzzing beneath his skull. Heat blossomed in his blood stream and rammed against his nerves, filling his mind with pools of darkness. Every passing second seemed to increase his internal temperature by a hundred degrees, but he kept fighting for consciousness, battling the inferno raging in his head.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Hands were grabbing at his clothes and he could faintly hear the voices of his friends, before they too were silenced. Inky tendrils began to wrap themselves around him, dragging him back to the one place he never wanted to see again. Back to the pyre of horrid scarlet flames he had been straining so hard to forget and push to the back of his mind.

Back to Hell.